Cooper (The Family Simon Book 6) (13 page)

“Morgan?”

“I’m here.”

“You okay?”

Okay was a relative term, but at the moment, she was pretty sure it applied to her. “Yep.”

“So did her eyes nearly bug out of her head?” Sara chuckled.

“Well, if they did, I missed it.”

“Huh.” A pause. “Nathan called me this morning.”

Wait. What? That was totally unexpected. “Why?” The word was torn from her, and she found herself straining to hear her sister’s response over the cries from the gulls and the sound of the waves hitting the rocks below.

“I don’t know. I didn’t pick up, and he didn’t leave a message, but he called three times, so it seems pretty obvious to me why he wanted to talk.”

With a small frown, Morgan turned as the helicopter roared to life. Cooper stared at her from across the clearing, and even though he was at least one hundred feet away, she felt the intensity of his gaze as surely as if he stood right in front of her. New shots of fire surged over her skin, and she tugged on the collar of her sweater.

“Morgan?”

“Yeah,” she replied, distracted, confused, hot, and way more aroused than she’d like to be.

“He still has feelings for you.”

“Who?” She jerked back as her sister’s voice filled her ear.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Sara sounded annoyed.

“Yes.”

“I’m talking about Nathan. I think he still has feelings for you.”

Morgan thought of the text messages he’d left this morning.
We need to talk.
“God,” she muttered. Nathan was the last person on the planet she wanted to talk to.

“Morgan?”

Her seagull swooped down only a few feet from her and then disappeared below the bluff. So bold and daring. So wild and free from constraint. Maybe it was time for her to do something totally out of character. Maybe it was time for her to live a little, to see if she could dance along the edge and not fall. Maybe it was finally time for her to deal with some of the ghosts from her past. Deal with them and move the hell on.

Cooper watched her, hands shoved into the pockets of his worn denim, the black leather jacket lending an air of danger that she liked. Heck, if she was honest? Not only did she like it a lot, she liked
him
.

And yet…could she get past her hang-ups? Let someone in, even if it was only for this moment? For tonight? She thought of the heat in his gaze, and an answering burn erupted in the pit of her stomach.

She didn’t think. She just acted. She was about to embark on what just might be the stupidest thing she’d ever done, but she didn’t give a rat’s ass. On account of the no-thinking thing.

With an abrupt turn, she started toward Cooper. “I gotta go, Sara. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? It’s Saturday. I thought we were doing dinner. I didn’t make plans tonight because we were doing dinner.”

“Not tonight.”

“You’re not going home?”

“No,” she whispered and then pocketed the phone. She ignored the twinge in her leg and picked up the pace.

Overhead, the seagull cried out, swooping across the bluff one last time before diving downward toward the churning sea. It dove beneath the waves before surfacing again, and as the sunlight dappled the water with waves of sparkling diamonds, the seagull took flight and disappeared altogether.

M
organ Campbell talked
a lot when she was nervous. Cooper wasn’t complaining—he liked watching her. Her eyes came alive, and that adorable mouth was something to behold. The flush in her cheeks gave her skin a soft glow, and occasionally, a small dimple on the right side appeared. He liked that dimple.

He’d spent the entire day with her and had learned a few things.

Morgan Campbell didn’t like peas. She ate chocolate-peanut-butter-chunk ice cream like it was going out of style, and was ambidextrous. She believed in God, was a card-carrying Democrat, couldn’t carry a tune to save her life, and was an avid fan of horror movies. She’d won a square dance competition in the fifth grade with a boy named Johnny and had been valedictorian at her high school grad. She’d majored in history, and though she’d been to Europe several times, she’d never made it to Ireland, which was the one place on the planet she longed to visit.

“There’s this pub there that’s been open since 1198 if you can believe it! Seriously. 1198.”

“What was that?” He smiled at the look on her face and secretly fist-pumped when she blushed to the cutest shade ever.

“In Dublin. This pub called The Brazen Head. It hasn’t been closed since the day it opened.” Her grin widened. “Did I mention it opened In 1198? I’d love to go there one day and have a pint of Guinness.”

His eyebrows shot up. “I thought you said you didn’t like Guinness.”

“True.” She giggled. “But how can you not down at least one pint of the stuff while in Dublin?”

I’ll take you there.
The thought rolled through his head, and for a second, he thought he’d vocalized it. When he realized he hadn’t, Cooper relaxed a bit, eyes still on the woman who’d managed to capture his attention for longer than any other in recent memory. She was funny, charming, smart as hell, and her giggle was like soft rain falling on the roof at his place in Florida. It gathered momentum until it became a full-blown chuckle you couldn’t help but laugh along to.

He liked making her laugh, and he sure as hell wanted to make her moan.

As he stared across the table at her and toyed with his wineglass, his thoughts took a decidedly wicked turn. God, the things he wanted to do to her. The sounds he wanted to hear falling from her lips as he settled himself deep inside her. The look he wanted to see on her face

when he made her come. The feel of her around him. Tight. Wet. Hot.

He knew it would be good. Screw that. He knew it would be smoking hot.

He pushed his wineglass away and gave himself a quick mental shake, because he needed to go slow with this one. And going slow was going to be hard. He leaned back in his chair, watching the play of light on her skin from the nearby fireplace. She was speaking, but her voice trailed off, words falling away like wind dying in the trees, and the two of them stared at each other for so long, the silence became a big thing that pressed into him.

Eventually, she cleared her throat, which brought his gaze to the delicate skin at the base of her neck. An image of Morgan, head thrown back, him right there with his mouth as he plunged inside her, had Cooper sitting up straighter and fighting to control the sudden need and desire that rolled through him like a damn freight train.

Jesus, it was hot in here.

“Did you hear anything I just said?” Morgan’s voice lowered, a slight quiver coloring her words in a way that made the protective part of him roar to life.

“No.” He didn’t hesitate. Hell, she could have been talking politics, religion, or spouting shit about the weather. He’d been entirely focused on her mouth.

If she was surprised, she didn’t show it. She licked her lips nervously and reached for her wineglass. But instead of scooping it up and finishing the dark red cabernet, she pushed the glass away and folded her hands in front of her. She gave a small half shrug, and something about her expression tore at him. Made him want to grab her up into his arms and hold her and not let go until she wanted him to.

He suddenly realized how hard this was for her. Being here with him. Knowing that sex was on the table. He was going to have to work hard to put her at ease.

“What was it you were saying?” He spoke gently, head cocked to the side. He used every bit of the God-given charm he owned, hoping it was enough to ease her into the rest of the evening.

Morgan licked her bottom lip, which was sexy as hell, and blew out a small breath. “It doesn’t matter.”

“It does.” He leaned forward. “To me it does.”

She looked away for a moment, and the air changed. It crackled, rife with electricity, and there went his damn heart again. Thumping inside him—fast and heavy—he was surprised she couldn’t hear it.

“I asked you what the most embarrassing thing you ever did was.”

Well, that was unexpected, and he laughed. “God, where do I start?”

A slow smile spread across her face, which in turn made those eyes sparkle again. “I somehow doubt you’ve ever done anything really stupid.”

“Well, I’ll share if you do.”

“Deal.”

“You go first.”

She looked surprised at that and took a sip of wine, brows furrowed as if deep in thought. “Well, once at a meet, I stumbled out of the blocks, fell sideways, and took out three competitors.” Her face lit up, and that adorable dimple made his chest tighten. “It wouldn’t have been so bad except it was a major meet.”

“Shit.”

“Shit is right.” She grinned. “And it was televised to boot. After that, everyone called me dippy.”

“Dippy?”

“Because I dipped to the right and, like a domino effect, took out the three runners beside me. In my defense, I’d been fighting the flu and shouldn’t have been competing in the first place, but I was so competitive and wouldn’t listen to anyone. Seriously, Sara had a field day with that, and my mother…”

Her voice softened, her eyes shimmered. “My mom gave me a sweatshirt with Dippy on the front and Domino on the back.”

“You told me you ran track.”

“I did.” She took another sip of wine. “I was a damn good sprinter.” She gave a soft chuckle. “In third grade, I tossed a dead rat at Billy Gleason, and he tried to catch me but couldn’t. That’s when I knew I could outrun anybody. I ran right up until…” Her face fell. “Until I couldn’t.” She was silent for a few moments. “I loved it. I loved the feel of the track beneath my feet. The wind in my face. Nothing before me but an open lane to eat up.”

He watched her carefully, aware they were broaching a subject that was painful. “You must miss it.” It wasn’t a question, and he knew the answer before she spoke.

“Sometimes I wake up out of breath, hot and sweating, my lungs on fire. Because in my dream, I’m still running. I’m running and not thinking about anything other than putting one foot in front of the other. I’m perfect and fast and just…running.”

She turned to him then, her composure in place. That little bit of herself she’d let him see was tucked away somewhere else.

“What about you?”

Still pondering her words, Cooper raised an eyebrow. “Me?”

“Yes. You, Cooper. What’s the most embarrassing thing you’ve ever done?”

He wasn’t kidding. There was an impressive list to choose from. But which one would put a smile on the face in front of him? Which one would bring on the soft-rain giggle he was coming to adore? He leaned back in his chair.

“When I was seventeen, I had this huge crush on a girl named Danielle. She was tall, blonde, with a rack that didn’t quit.”

“Of course she was.”

There was a hint of a smile there, and Cooper grinned, wondering where Danielle Lockheart had ended up.

“So what was the problem?”

“She was dating my cousin Jack, but I was determined to win her over. There was a whole group of us that hung out, and I waited until Jack headed north with his family for vacation.”

“Sounds serious.”

“I invited her out for dinner and a boat ride, along with most of the gang we hung with. Except a couple of hours before dinner, I told everyone else but Danielle it was canceled. I’d grilled her pals for weeks, so I knew she loved chicken stir-fry and red wine. I arranged for Cook to prepare the best chicken stir-fry on the planet, and of course I took credit for it, and when she arrived alone, I played dumb.”

Cooper finished off his wine, shaking his head at the memory. “I remember her asking me if there were peanuts in the stir-fry and I remember thinking, hell no, who mixes peanuts with peppers and onions?”

“Uh-oh. I can see where this is headed.”

“So she takes me at my word. I’ve just told her I cooked everything myself. We eat down by the dock. The moon is coming out, and I’ve got her on my boat with every intention of seducing her on the water, when she starts complaining that she doesn’t feel good. I think she’s had too much wine. And even though I was pulling a bastard move on my cousin Jack, I’ve never been the guy to take advantage of a girl who’s had too much to drink. We turn around and head back to the dock at about the same time my brother Rick comes strolling up with his girlfriend. I’m tying up the boat while Danielle’s trying to get off the damn thing, and then I hear a scream.”

Morgan rested her chin on her hand, shaking her head. “This is sounding more like a horror story.”

“You have no idea. I hop onto the dock, and Danielle is in hysterics. Once I got over to her, I could see why. Her face was inflated like a goddamn blowfish, and that’s not an exaggeration. I thought she was dying, and all she could say was, ‘You said there were no peanuts in the stir-fry.’”

He tossed his napkin. “So not only did I nearly kill the girl I was trying to steal from my cousin Jack—”

“Bastard move.”

“Agreed. But I had to come clean about the whole thing. About how I’d arranged for Cook to make dinner. About how Cook had obviously put peanuts in the stir-fry. Danielle knew I’d told the rest of our gang not to come because I had every intention of hooking up with her.”

“So what happened?”

“Well.” Cooper sat back in his chair. “She wouldn’t let me take her to the hospital. She called Jack right away and told him everything, and the first thing he did when he got home was this.” He pointed to his face and watched as Morgan tried to stifle a giggle.

“He broke your nose?”

“Sure did.”

Her mouth twitched. “But you totally deserved it.”

“Right again. She wasn’t a trophy I should have gone after.”

A few seconds of silence followed his declaration, and then she moistened her lips. “So what am I, exactly? Another trophy for your shelf?”

He was shaking his head before she’d even finished speaking.

“No,” Cooper said carefully, getting to his feet. He walked around the table and bent low, his mouth a few inches from her ear. “You’re the woman I want to spend the night with. Not because she belongs to someone else and it’s a game. Not because there’s no one else available.” He kissed her behind her earlobe and smiled when he felt her shudder. There was something insanely hot about making a woman react to the merest whisper of a touch.

“I want to spend the night with you because I think you’re sexy as hell and you smell good.” He inhaled deeply. Damn, but her scent drove him crazy.

“I smell good.” Her voice was rough.

“Mmhmm. Every inch of you.”

She shook her head slowly. “I’m not sure you want to see every inch of me.”

The tremble in her voice made his gut ache, and he moved so that he could squat in front of her. “Hey,” he said roughly. “We can go slow. We can go fast. I’ll take you home if that’s what you want.” His chest swelled. “But don’t ever think I don’t want to see you. I already see you here.” He touched her breast, his hand gliding over her heart. “And I see you here.” He slid his palm up, cupping her head as she leaned into him.

“I’m not sure…” She paused as if struggling for the courage to say what it was she needed to get out. “I don’t know if I…” She swore and dropped her gaze before exhaling shakily. “I hope you’re not disappointed if I can’t, well, if I can’t…” She shivered violently, and her voice broke.

Cooper stood. She didn’t look up at him, and when he held out his hand, she hesitated, but after a few moments, she slid her smaller one into it. Cooper pulled her to her feet and wrapped his arms around her, holding her so close he could feel her heart beating rapidly. Hell, no surprise there; his own was banging away like a damn jackhammer. When was the last time a woman had managed to pull that kind of reaction out of him?

He wanted her, yes, but he wanted her to want him just as much—and for all the right reasons. For a guy used to aggressive women, the kind who used sex not only for pleasure but as a means of manipulation, this right here was something different.

He nuzzled the top of her head and then murmured, “I’m not going to lie, Morgan. I want you.” He inhaled her unique scent. “I want you naked in my bed. I want you on your knees and bent over. I want you beneath me, over me. I want to hear you sigh when I touch you and growl like an animal when I slide inside. I want it all.”

Her breathing increased—he felt the warm air against his chest—and he dropped his mouth to her neck. He slid his lips downward, smiling to himself when she let her head fall back, giving him access to the fast-beating pulse that told him just how worked up she was. He trailed a line of kisses along the base of her throat, but stopped when she suddenly froze and dug her fingers into his arms.

Slowly, his eyes swept open. He saw the dappled, damaged skin there and pulled back so that he could see her properly. Her bottom lip was trembling, and that thing inside him twisted when he saw the anxiety and fear on her face. It twisted hard, and Cooper loosened his grip. He had to take a moment and get his shit together.

“I want you. Simple as that. I think you want me. But I get that this is hard for you, so if you want me to take you home, I will. Right now. Just say the word.”

Throat tight, he waited, his lungs aching because he couldn’t breathe.

Morgan looked up at him, those big eyes of hers shimmery and pale and so damn clear, he felt as if he could see into her soul. She exhaled and walked away from him toward the sofa. She hit the lights in the kitchen, leaving only the glow from the fire to light the room. And with her back to him, she reached for her top.